Knox County's Funding Challenges

Galesburg, IL – Continuing delays in state funding are beginning to affect Knox County in western Illinois. It's started to borrow money from reserves and its restricted funds to pay for operations.

Treasurer Robin Davis says through the end of April, Illinois owed Knox County more than $477,000 for its general fund.

"Some of the salary reimbursements go back to June of '09, and then the income taxes they've delayed on us are four months," says Davis. "The last income tax payment we did receive was for December."

Davis says, normally, Knox County receives about $63,000 per month from the state, including about 50,000 as its share of state income tax collections.

So far borrowing money from the landfill fund, and others, has not cost the county any money, and not resulted in any job or program cuts.

But the crunch may come soon - budget planning for next year usually begins in June, and Davis says that's when she and other county leaders will have to begin figuring out what money they might receive from the state, and how to pay back the fund loans.